The Books of 1st & 2nd Chronicles cover the same period of Jewish history described in 2 Samuel through 2 Kings, but the perspective is different. These books are no mere repetition of the same material, but rather form a divine editorial on the history of God's people. While 2 Samuel and 1st & 2nd Kings give a political history of Israel and Judah, 1st & 2nd Chronicles present a religious history of the Davidic dynasty of Judah. The former are written from a prophetic and moral viewpoint, and the latter from a priestly and spiritual perspective. The Book of 1st Chronicles begins with the royal line of David and then traces the spiritual significance of David's righteous reign.

The books of 1st & 2nd Chronicles were originally one continuous work in the Hebrew. The title was Dibere Hayyamim, meaning "The Words [accounts, events] of the Days." The equivalent meaning today would be "The Events of the Times." Chronicles was divided into two parts in the third-century B.C. Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible (the Septuagint). At that time it was given the name Paraleipomenon, "Of Things Omitted," referring to things omitted from Samuel and Kings. Some copies add the phrase, Basileon Iouda, "Concerning the Kings of Judah." The first book of Chronicles was called Paraleipomenon Primus, "The First Book of Things Omitted." The name "Chronicles" comes from Jerome in his Latin Vulgate Bible (A.D. 385-405): Chronicorum Liber. He meant his title in the sense of the "Chronicles of the Whole of Sacred History."